On the morning of June 11, 1890, there was born to me a baby boy; though, till his sharp birth-cry saluted my ears, I had not realized that prospective maternity was the interpretation of preceding months of poignant physical discomfort, not unreasonably attributed to other physiological causes and changes,—growing out of my age, and former reliance upon medical opinion,—pointing in the direction of some fungoid formation. 87 It was no secret to those who knew Mrs.